that they alwaies speed best and have most assistance and enlargement of heart in duties that set to them in most Humilitie and tremblingnesse of Spirit 3. To grow up to more and more full Assurance of our salvation unto which we are exhorted Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure Diligence here implieth 1. Care of the heart so rendred 2 Cor. 7.11 2. Earnest indevour which hath in it speed instantnesse painefulnesse putting forth our best strength thereunto taking paines for God and our soules to make our calling and election sure that is that we be not disappointed or doubt or distrust of it the former is the assurance of the things in themselves i Certitudo obiecti the other is in regard k Certitudo subiecti of us This duty is to bee done 1. by building our hope of both not upon the Sand that is either upon l Ephes 2.3 good nature or m Matth. 3.9 Gods outward Covenant or n Maâ— 7.21 22 23. common graces and duties for these will deceive us but upon the Rocke which is Christ Mat. 7.24 and in him upon his promise of Word Oath Heb. 6.18 2. By gathering certaine signes of our safe estate in him as from our chusing him for our God Psal 73.25 a sure signe he o Ioh. 1â— 19 first chose us 1 Iohn 4.19 so of our effectuall calling and the like 3. Eschewing such evils as might darken or dampe our Assurance and breake the bones and strength of it 4. By adding grace to grace and linking one to another as you heard before Thus you see what things are required of us about this great worke and businesse of our Salvation and unto this wee should the rather hasten with all our might as in many other respects so in that priority in enjoying the benefits of God in Christ is a great prerogative and every one should stir up themselves about it To be first in Christ hath speciall privileges Rom. 16.7 Salute Andronicus and Iunia saith Saint Paul who were in Christ before me So is Epinetus recorded to be the first fruits of Achaia The sooner we get out of the world which lyes in wickednesse unto Christ the safer we are what ever befals us and the more sins and pollutions of the world shall we be freed from and so the sooner shall wee provide for the peace of our consciences and the comfort of our lives Thus also are we to stirre up our selves according to our places and callings p Pecora fratris tuo errantia iubel ut reducas fratri tuo nedum ipsum sibi Tertul. about the salvation of others and to further the same with all earnestnesse of intention by all the wayes and meanes we can as they stand in relation unto us Thus Cornelius taking the opportunity when Peter was to come to his house to Preach the Word unto him q Acts 10.24 he gathered together his kinsmen and meere friends So Andrew cals his brother Simon and r Ioh. 1.40 41 tels him We have found the Messiah and so brought him to Iesus This being an infallible note of a good man that hee cannot tell how to goe to heaven alone This care and deare affection should specially be found in Ministers of Gods Word how should they stirre up themselves when they come to perform this worke Before them sit the blinde and ignorant the proud profane and rebellious sinner Å¿ 2 Tim. 2.20 held under the power of the Devill and led captive by him according to his will who are making hast and fetch large strides to the fiery Lake which is but a little before them What tender compassions should they put on to bring home wandring sinners and t Heb. 5.2 such as are out of the way that if it were possible u Acts 20.28 not one soule should perish committed to their charge When the Lord is pleased to call home a lost sinner and beginnes to lay a foundation of his blessed change in his soule wee should stirre up our selves by all signes of joy and rejoycing As it was when God put to his hand to lay the foundations of this glorious frame of the world the Lord himselfe tels us * Job 38.7 that the morning starres sang together and the Sonnes of God that is * Vid. Ion. ad loc the Angels shouted for ioy much more when he begins x Amos 9.6 to build his stories of grace and mercy in the soule of any it being a greater and a harder worke to save one sinner than to make the world because in that work there was no resistance for he did but y Psal 33.9 Gen. 1.3 speake and it was done he said Let there be light and it was so but in the soule of man there is great resistance who stands out as long as ever hee can and God hath much adoe with us before hee can bring us home therefore are wee to make it matter of great joy even as it is to the holy Angels themselves Who reioyce over one sinner that repenteth Luk. 15.10 Thus doth the Father of the prodigal child in the same Chapter a Luk. 15. ult It is meet saith he that we should make merry and be glad for this thy brother was dead and is alive againe Luke 10.21 Jesus reioyced in Spirit he was lost and is found and good cause have wee to rejoyce one soule more being pulled out of the Divels clawes and kingdome one more is added to the Church one more of a child of wrath death and hell is made an heire of grace and salvation Section 2. Of stirring up our selves against our owne sinnes THe second thing about which this duty of stirring up our selves is to bee exercised is in regard of sinne and Gods offence whether in regard of our selves or others 1. In regard of our selves and our owne sinnes 1. First in regard of our inbred and inherent corruption wee are to stirre up our selves b Incentiva vitiorum statim in mente iugulabis et parvulos Babilonis allides ad Petram Hieron in opposing and resisting the inward motions stirrings and provocations of it it is our duty to set our selves against them with all our might to sharpen our eyes against them we should labour to see Death Hell Wrath and Gods curse in the least risings and motions unto them we should looke upon Lust Pride Malice Revenge thoughts of blasphemy c. as upon the Divell himselfe we should be no otherwise affected with the stirrings of these then as if thou didst feele a Toad or Serpent stirring crawling in thy bosome O in what a case wouldst thou then think thou wert How wouldst thou shake thy selfe and never be at quiet till thou hadst got forth that loathsome and venemous creature So and much more shouldst thou c Dum in cogitatione voluptas non reprimitur etiam in actione dominaetur strive and
lye much with himselfe A Christian hath of all others the greatest businesse and this lies in many places in heaven in the Church in the Family in the Closet c. and though God set him his worke and give abilities to doe it yet in regard of the transacting and perfecting this worke it hath speciall and primary relation to a mans selfe and specially to that part of a mans sâ—lfe which wee call the Inner man as his minde and thoughts wil and affections and Conscience God being a Spirit with whom our principal businesse lieth and the service being Spirituall in which we are to addresse our selves unto him it s the ordering and managing of our spirits that lyeth upon us as the chiefest of our imployment See it in some Instances First in the great businesse of Repentance and turning to God we shall finde this in Scripture to be called a Luk. 24 1â— A comming to a mans selfe To make this farther to appeare let us take the whole order and course of this worke It pleaseth the Lord at some time of a mans life such an one whom he purposeth to save by the Ministery of the Word together with the helpe of the Spirit to meet in his way to Hell where there is discovered unto him the vilenesse and horriblenesse of his sinnes and the fearefull estate the sinner is cast into by reason of these The conscience is now a wakened the books are opened hee sees sinne clearely and is convinced of them so that he cannot shift hee cannot deny them his thoughts also beginne to be troubled and to beat one against another with unsavory perturbations finding all is not well he goes alone by himselfe begins to search reads his sinnes as in a story his conscience tels him I am sent unto thee with heavy tydings and one messenger followes another to tell him of his lost and condemned estate b Dan. 5.27 To thee be it spoken thou art weighed in the ballance and found too light these be thy sinnes and these will be thy sorrowes Being thus perplexed he begins to cast about and to consider what way hee were best to take to extricate and unwind himselfe out of these Mazes and Labyrinths of sinne and misery He lookes upward and sees heaven shut against him he lookes downward and findes hell opened for him he lookes round about him and sees no helpe in any creature men or Angels he lookes into himselfe and findes innumerable sinnes coÌ„passing him about which stare upon him and having every one as it were a chain in their hands they are binding him hand and foot to cast him into utter darknesse Being cast into these great streights such thoughts beginne to rise in his minde God being mercifull to him Is there not mercy with the most High Will hee cast off any poore sinner that comes unto him And therfore resolves and saith Sure c Luk 15.18 I will arise and goe and I will say to the Lord I have sinned against heaven and before thee who can tell but the Lord may shew mercy to as great a sinner as I am He comes therfore and casts himselfe downe before the Throne of grace and saith d Iob 7.20 What shall I say unto thee O thou preserver of men I have no arguments to plead no excuses to make no reasons to defend my selfe withall my sighes are my best Apologies and my teares are my best arguments O that thou wouldest pitty O that thou wouldst spare O that thou wouldst have mercy upon a poore worme a wretched and forlorne sinner Thus all alone he humbleth himselfe hee e Psal 32.5 confesseth his sinnes and spreadeth them before the Lord f Eze. 20.43 loathing himselfe in his owne sight g Luk. 15.21 accuseth himselfe h 1 Cor. 11.31 iudgeth himselfe worthy to be destroied He now beholds i Iohn 3.14 Christ lifted up to him as the brazen Serpent in the wildernesse which he sees with his own eyes embraceth with the armes of his owne faith applyes him to himselfe for his owne everlasting comfort And thus his sinnes pursue him to the Sacrifice of Christ to this City of refuge giving him no rest till Christ speake peace to his soule and all this is done by a man with himselfe Secondly as it is thus in regard of Initiall Repentance so is it in regard of renewed Repentance when a man falls into sinne after calling to get up againe and recover the businesse lies with a mans k Psal 4.4 selfe Thus we l 1 Kin. 8.47 read in 1 King 8.47 When Gods people are carryed captive into their Enemies Land the promise is that yet if they shall bethinke themselves and repent and make supplications c. then God would heare them He speakes it of renewed Repentance of them who are already Gods people and this hee cals a bethinking themselves or a bringing backe a mans heart a going downe into a mans selfe and answerable to this is the other expression in the same Chapter ver 36. When they shall know every man that is particularly the soare and plague of his owne heart Thus also Levit. 16.29 the children of Israel were to afflict their soules and to make bitter to themselves the remembrance of former sinnes they were m Eze. 16.62 63 36.31 voluntarily to cast themselves into heavinesse so Peter n Luk. 22.32 went out by himselfe and wept bitterly As it is with a man in times of taking Physicke to recover health hee betakes himselfe to his chamber takes the potion prescribed and is contented to be pained and made sicke So in this Repentance which is Spirituall Physicke the worke lyes by ones selfe as it is in Zach. 12.11 They went apart the Land shall mourne every Family apart and their wives apart Thus wee see it in the businesse of Repentance It is the same also in the work of Mortification How doth it lye with a mans selfe as the severall phrases in Scripture pointing to this import when a man is to o Grandis virtutis est tecum pugnare quotidie etinclusum hostem centum oculis observare Hieron ad Fur. fall out with himselfe and to have great p 2 Cor. 7.11 indignation against himselfe to q Gal. 5.24 crucifie his lusts and corruptions to r Mat. 18.8 cut off as it were the parts and members of ones owne body as to pull out our eyes to cut off foot or hand to Å¿ 1 Cor. 9.27 keepe under the body to t Mat. 8.34 deny a mans selfe all which seeme terrible and bloody words to corrupt nature and carnal reason yet about this must a Christian be exercised and that by himselfe Againe when feares and doubts rise in that great and weighty matter whether we have any part or right in Christ or no this question must be resolved by u 2 Cor. 13.5 proving and trying a mans owne selfe by a private search
hope of salvation by the continuance and constancy of Gods wayes of grace and mercy to his people vers 5. Behold saith he thou art wroth for we have sinned and so are unworthy and unfit for mercy yet in those to wit in those wayes of thine wayes of grace and mercy prepared in the Gospell from the beginning of the world in those is continuance and constancy notwithstanding our undeservingnesse and wee shall bee saved More particularly their unpreparednesse for mercy is expressed vers 7. in a double respect 1. In respect of the uncleannesse and filthinesse not only of their corrupt nature but even of their best actions and duties vers 6. But we are all saith he as an uncleane thing and all our righteousnesse are as filthy ragges c. In respect of their spiritual dulnesse and sloth to exercise such graces and duties as might turne away Gods wrath and remove their sins and misery Vers 7. There is none that calleth upon thy Name that stirreth up himselfe to take hold on thee In the third part of this prayer and Chapter which is the Deprecation the Prophet earnestly prayeth against the sorenesse or greatnesse of Gods wrath and the everlasting remembrance of their iniquities vers 9. and this request hee presseth upon God by two Arguments 1. By the mutuall interest they have in God and God in them Thou art our Father our Potter wee thy children and as clay in thy hand vers 8. Wee thy people vers 9. thou therefore our King 2. By the desolate and forlorne condition of Gods owne Cities yea of his and their holy and beautiful house vers 10.11 Which injuries and indignities the Prophet demands with a patheticall question how he can endure to looke at and refraine and hold his hands from redressing vers 11. To returne to the words of the Text they be as you see a Confession or Complaint of the latter of those evils which made them unworthy and unprepared to receive mercy to wit in respect of their Spirituall dulnesse and untowardnesse to the exercise of such Graces and Duties as might turne away Gods wrath and their sinnes together Wherein observe 1. The generality of this Spirituall dulnesse it is Epidemical common to them all none free from it there is none saith he that calleth c. 2. The Duties neglected which were two 1. Calling upon Gods Name though in a most needfull time 2. Taking hold of God by which is meant either by faith laying hold of his Covenant or else figuratively as it were holding God and staying him that hee depart not from them keeping him with them as Saul would have kept Samuel 1 Sam. 15.27 And this latter hee amplifieth by their neglect of the very endevour after it None stirreth up himselfe to take hold of thee CHAP. II. That Gods people doe charge themselves with more secret sinnes than any else doe ANd there is none that calleth upon thy Name Before wee come to lay forth the maine thing intended it will not bee amisse to take a short view of some passages in the Text as they lye in our way And first in generall from the nature of their complaint if wee looke to the matter of it we shall finde it to be not so much in regard of their present pressures and evils which lay upon them neither for grosser sinnes which were more open and obvious to the eyes of others but for more inward and secret corruptions and failings such as the world takes no notice of or will hardly bee brought to acknowledge they are sinnes at all or if so yet not worthy the troubling themselves for them as not to have striven with the Lord in their prayers to stay the iudgment threatned and not to stirre up themselves to hold the Lord that he depart not from them Hence wee may observe Gods Children in the times of confession of their sinnes before God are wont to charge themselves with more close and secret evils and corruptions Their complaints are mingled with bitter bewailings of more inconspicuous and indiscernable evils of wickednesse more spirituall not to be perceived by a carnall eye and therfore not lamented by a carnall heart To give some instances As For their * Psal 51.5 Isay 64.6 birth-sinne that corrupted masse they brought into the world which steames like a dung-hill and sends up stench and unsavorinesse into the whole man hindering in all duty and putting forward unto all evill They complaine of those remainders of Atheisme of their wicked and blasphemous thoughts of strong objections rising up in their mindes against cleare and evident truths as against the very Being of God the worke of our Redemption by our Saviour Christ the truth of Gods Word and many such like So also they lament their a Psa 31.22 Psa 116.11 Unbeleefe b 2 Cor. 12.7 He that telleth the people of God of the medicine God applyed to heale and prevent the exalting of himselfe above measure secretly confesseth the privy pronenesse of his owne heart to selfe-exalting privy Pride c Psa 51.10 Praying for a right Spirit he confcsseth his owne spirit not right nor streight but crooked and deceitfull secret hypocrisie d Isay 6.5 Nehem. 13.22 His great zeale for reformation yet needeth great mercy to spare it from exact examination and the evill which cleaves to their best works their selfe-love selfe-seeking and e Psalm 30.6 self-confidence their great f Psal 106.6 7. Nehem. 9.35 unprofitablenesse under all those meanes and mercies offered their g Isay 63.17 hardnesse of heart and that great h Prov. 30 2 3. I feele such ignorance of God and aâ—l his wayes so many yeares towards mee such folly which keepeth mee from taking any thing to heart which respecteth God or concerneth my selfe such uncircumcision of heart which maketh mee that I cannot be holy poore and abiect though conscious of innumerable Motives past present imminent whieh might move mee thereunto Lastly I feele such a selfe-sufficiency as will not let mee perceive what need I have of my God to be with mee for quickning strengthening comforting directing prospering of mee in my course Baines Letter 19. blindenesse and ignorance which they finde in themselves it much grieves them many times for their unruly i Psa 73.3.22 passions and their * Isa 45.9 strivings with God and impatiencies under his hand their security lukewarmenesse and not k Cant. 1.6 keeping their Watch their l Deut. 32.15 Nehe. 9.28 abusing lawfull things their m Hos 8.12 unthankfulnesse for Spirituall mercies their n Ezech. 9.4 Isa 42.19 20 not mourning for the sinnes of the land and of the places where they live nor taking to heart spirituall judgements their o Ier. 9.3 fearefulnesse and aptnesse to be discouraged and give out in good businesses and Gods causes their too much p 1 Sam. 2.9 indulgency and favouring themselves and those that are neare